Trump calls sanctions on North Korea a "small step"

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, U.S. September 12, 2017. From left are Vice President Mike Pence, Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Trump adviser Jared Kushner.

While President Trump thinks "it was nice to get a 15-to-nothing vote" from the U.N. Security Council on new sanctions against North Korea, he suggested it was incremental.

"We think it's just another very small step," he said during a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. Mr. Trump added, "But those sanctions are nothing compared to what will ultimately have to happen." He did not elaborate on what would have to happen.

On Monday, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions over what North Korea claimed was a hydrogen bomb test Sept. 3, its most powerful atomic test yet. The council banned North Korean textile exports, an important source of hard currency, and capped its imports of crude oil. The U.S. had sought to ban all oil imports and freeze North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's international assets.

The Trump administration warned that the U.S. will punish companies in China and Russia that don't comply with the restrictions in the new sanctions.